The Lounge is a virtual Art Gallery, updated weekly. This space will showcase emerging or underutilized photographers.
Eye Candy for Monday.
Recently I was directed to Caroll Taveras’s work by Photo Editor Natalie Matutschovsky. I was so excited to see a photographer opening their doors to do a simple portrait studio. Taveras opened a portrait studio in the heart of Brooklyn and within 2 months she photographed over 200 people. She currently is scheduling the portrait studio project in Berlin as well as in 2 other South American cities.
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
Caroll Taveras has been working as a photographer for just over 10 years in Nyc. In 2006 she was selected to exhibit at Hyeres Photo Festival. As well as primarily shooting editorially, she also creates incredible collages. Taveras’ self published book of collage work – titled “Surrender” has received acknowledgment in Wallpaper and The New Yorker.
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
I asked Caroll about how she approaches her collage work as opposed to her photography…
“As an artist, you want to create and the medium of choice can be limiting. I started doing collage work about 16 years ago. I had no idea i was making collage. It was my way of creating a narrative with images. It seemed pretty natural for me. I found myself making them as presents for friends’ birthdays. It wasn’t until a friend of mine showed me a book by Hannah Hoch and i realized the images i had been making had a name.
I made collages before i started doing photography. At first i used my snap shots and found images. Now, probably about 5 years ago i find myself taking photos with my collages in mind. Big open spaces, heavy sky and so. Usually what i don’t use in a commission edit i can use in my collage work. Recycle..”
On what seems like a completely different tip – Caroll was commissioned to photograph The Ladies Rock Camp for French Glamour. The camp is in downtown Brooklyn. Women have 1 week to learn new instruments and form bands with the end result being a show at the Knitting Factory in Tribeca. I love how the theatrical lighting directing us to see the images outside of the everyday.
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
Caroll’s work seems to focus on community. In Bolivia, Jamaica or Brooklyn, she seems to have an incredible way of connecting with the heart of each community and understanding the unity in the relationships that exist on and off the page. Which is why it’s so fascinating that her personal collages feel so different. Much more inward, isolated and complex. There’s a beautiful balance between each of these bodies of work – the outward expression of the world around her and the inward process of herself.
So here’s a few super gems I couldn’t leave out.
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
copyright Caroll Taveras
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Is this good photography? its a notch above WalMart free portrait sitting come on people wake up this is pure crap..high art haaaaaaaa.
Well at least someone is commenting! Clearly portrait photography such as Caroll’s can inspire just as much as it can entice anger. A simple diss though does not make for a good argument as to why you think the work is bad Jamie; haaaaaaaaaa, is a rather simplistic way talk about the work! Why is it bad to you? Why is a Walmart portrait not art? There is history in this type of portraiture and yes it does come from sitting in a Walmart like portrait studio – which, if you cared to read – is what this project is about. No one called it high art but yourself. I guess the whole point of this reply is how can we better understand what photography is if we cannot talk about it in a proper manner? Sure, photography is an incredibly subjective medium. What you find great others won’t and vice versa. But if we can’t discuss it – what it is actually made of, how we see, and how we create – then how do you expect to learn?